the bet | dojae

fifteen

jaehyun and doyoung sat across from taeyong at the island in the kitchen. there was a stool between them, and doyoung glanced down at his phone, looking up when taeyong cleared his throat. he looked pissed. jaehyun didn't think he had ever seen taeyong so angry before. "why are you sitting so far apart? i already know." jaehyun scooted over onto the empty stool, his shoulder brushing against doyoung's.

"you haven't told anyone ... have you?" jaehyun asked quietly.

taeyong shook his head. "i was too tired to bother. i went to bed not long after doyoung did."

"good."

an awkward silence filled the room, and doyoung shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "what do you wanna know?"

"everything. when, where, why. how long. why you hid it from everyone."

"we hid it because doyoung wasn't ready to tell people yet," jaehyun answered. "he didn't know how the news would be received, considering the dare, and he didn't know how you would react. he was scared you'd be mad at him for going out with me."

"mad? mad? doyoung, are you fucking insane? i could care less about who you date, as long as it's not—" he stopped. considered how he would have finished that sentence. paused before continuing. "jaehyun is practically perfect for you! i don't care if you date him."

"it was the day after the dare," doyoung squeaked.

"okay, what the fuck?"

"we knew we liked each other, but neither of us really knew how to approach what we were feeling, and we decided that dating was reasonable." doyoung moved closer to jaehyun, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders, letting the boy rest his head on his shoulder.

"we've been together for 3 weeks," jaehyun finished.

taeyong sat back on the stool, rubbing his face with his hands. "and you've never been caught?"

"there's been a few instances, but—"

"have you had sex again?"

doyoung sat back up, glaring daggers at taeyong. "what the fuck is wrong with you? genuinely."

"hey, it's a possibility!"

"well, we nearly did," jaehyun muttered.

doyoung looked over at him with wide eyes, punching his shoulder. "that was not sex."

"i said nearly!"

"it wasn't gonna be sex, either! we were literally just making out in your room!"

"doyoung, you took my fucking shirt off."

"yeah, and then i heard someone coming upstairs! we didn't do anything after johnny came in!"

"because you said you didn't want to! you said you were too scared to do anything else, so we just cuddled for a little, and then you went home!"

"should i intervene?" taeyong asked, but his voice was quickly drowned out by doyoung's voice.

"okay! so the point is that we didn't have sex, and we weren't gonna!"

"you made it seem like you wanted to!"

"well—"

"doyoung."

"fine!" he shouted, standing up. "maybe i did! there. are you happy?"

"doyoung, it's perfectly normal to want to have sex with your boyfriend," taeyong said, but they both ignored him again.

jaehyun gently took doyoung's hand, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. "i'm sorry for making you upset."

"you didn't, it's just—" he plopped back down onto the stool. "it's confusing. i don't know ... what to do in that situation. i mean, the dare was my first time, and i know it was yours, too, but you seemed so ..."

"experienced?" taeyong offered.

doyoung nodded. "yeah. it made me feel embarrassed, because i thought if we ever did it again, i still wouldn't know what to do and you'd have to lead everything. i mean, the sex was amazing—"

"tmi."

he shot taeyong a dirty look. "i was just scared of looking stupid in front of you."

"doyoung ..." jaehyun used his free hand to cup doyoung's cheek, but he looked everywhere except for jaehyun's face. "it's okay that you don't know what to do. okay? you've only done it once. i don't expect you to know everything, and you shouldn't expect that of yourself, either. plus, i thought it was cute that i got to lead everything. you looked—"

"don't continue that sentence, i'm begging you," taeyong pleaded.

jaehyun rolled his eyes before continuing. "if it was worrying you this much, you should've just told me."

"i feel stupid, jaehyun! out of all the things to worry about in a relationship, i chose to focus on that, and i feel stupid."

"i'm sorry." he hugged doyoung, unable to stop the wave of guilt that washed over him. he hated the thought of doyoung worrying so much about something, and not having anyone to confide in. he wanted doyoung to feel like he could trust him, even if he thought his own worries were stupid.

he loved doyoung.

"hey, wait," doyoung started, pulling back from the hug to look at taeyong, "who can i not date?"

"what?"

"when you said you don't care who i date, you were gonna say a name and then you stopped."

"oh. well, that's for me to know and for you to find out."